After accepting the fan-voted award from presenter Lionel Richie, Underwood exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, thank you so much! Fans, thank you so much! You have been awesome to me. It’s really hard to believe that I have been doing this for nine years, but every single second of those nine years, you guys have been so amazing.”

During her charming speech, the former American Idol champion also gave special recognition to video director Eric Welch.

“I love this song. And it had such a great message and great meaning to me. I had the idea of what I wanted to do, and he made it all make sense,” Underwood said. “So, thank you so much, Eric. Oh, I’m so nervous! My heart’s still beating really fast! God bless you guys. God bless country music and its fans. You guys are so amazing to all of us. Thank you so much. Thank you, CMT!”